


haunted houses

by unicyclehippo



Series: Critical Shorts [8]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-08
Updated: 2019-12-08
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:06:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21716599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unicyclehippo/pseuds/unicyclehippo
Summary: prompt request: "No, the house is definitely not haunted, why do you ask?"or, modern day au (all human?) in which beau is an idiot and loves jester a lot but things and emotions and friendships are hard, y'know?
Relationships: Jester Lavorre/Beauregard Lionett
Series: Critical Shorts [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1824253
Comments: 3
Kudos: 125





	haunted houses

'And no, the house is definitely not haunted, why do you ask?'

‘I didn’t ask,’ Beau mutters, not looking up from her book. Jester has both hands on her elbow, prepared to pull the _moment_ Beau gives any sign of giving in. ‘Why are you telling me about a haunted house?’

‘Oh, because, you know, all of our friends will be there—‘

‘Your friends.’

‘Caleb will be there, you like Caleb!’

Beau scowls down at her textbook. ‘Don’t ever say that in front of him, he’ll never forget it. Literally, that man never forgets anything.’

Jester laughs, that loud easy laugh that makes Beau’s heart flutter. She should really get that checked out at some point, like by a doctor or something. But she doesn’t because she knows what they’ll say: it’s official. It’s written down on a doctors pad. She’s lovesick.

‘Okay, okay, big baby, I won’t out you as liking his company.’

‘Thank you.’

‘But Fjord will be there!’

Beau tenses at that; the pencil in her hand creaks and then cracks. 'Great.'

‘Um. Are you two…fighting?’

‘No. No, definitely not.’ Were they? They’d “exchanged words” as it were a few weeks back and hadn’t really spoken since, and Beau isn’t a hundred per cent sure where they stand. ‘Jes,' she rubs with her free hand at her brows, brushes her hair back off her face. 'Look, I have a lot of study to do for finals…’

‘Oh. Oh, yeah,’ Jester leans back, hands dropping from where she grips Beau’s elbow to fall into her lap. ‘Okay.’

Beau can’t look at her, can’t bear to see the disappointment. She feels her shoulders hitch up a couple places until she’s hunched protectively over her books. Jester’s chair scrapes on the floor as the girl stands.

‘Okay, well, I’ll text you the invite and you can join us if you want.’ Beau grunts. Nods. She feels Jester’s hand rest lightly on her back, between her shoulder blades. For as light a touch as it is, for as cold as Jester’s hands always are, it feels burning hot on her spine—not a brand or a rebuke, but lingeringly warm. ‘Good luck with your study, Beau,’ she whispers, and tiptoes dramatically out of the room, swearing when her dress gets caught on her chair and she drags it—loudly—a foot or so behind her.

Beau lasts about as long as she typically does with these kinds of things, and hates it. Not the fact that she gives in, that’s fine. She hates that she can’t just say yes, can’t just let Jester be happy from the start. Is it a control thing? It’s probably a fucking control thing. She's her father's daughter, that has never been more apparent. _Fuck_.

She pulls on a hoodie over her singlet and trackies—has to run to catch the train but soon has hurtled her way across town to where the haunted house is supposed to be. It’s pretty obvious when she gets to the street—tacky plastic orange pumpkins line the road, set on mailboxes as well. Some of them still have candy and Beau swipes a few bars, shoving them into the front pocket of her hoodie. Jogging up the hill, she makes it to the small crowd at the top, amassed around and streaming into the towering three-storey building blocked off by dark iron gates and a fence that surrounds the hedgerow garden, monstrous creatures writhing in green and shadowed sculptures.

Beau shivers, caught off guard by an immense snake with glowing lanterns studded along its length like watchful eyes. The sentinel doesn’t shift, other than the creaking shadows of trees in a low wind.

She casts about for any sign of her friends and sees them nearer to the front of what she sees now is a line. Pushing through—heedless of the complaints that follow—Beau reaches them.

Tall, pale, flame-haired Caleb. His face is lit by the glow of his phone, and she suspects that even now he is cramming for finals—as she should be. Next to him, embracing the holiday season and decked out in a string of lights around her neck and a creepy dolls mask, is Nott. Talking with her—bickering good naturedly, it looks like—is Fjord. He doesn’t notice Beau until Cad nudges him; when he does, Beau feels herself slow, almost unwittingly, and doesn’t continue toward them until her friend cracks a small smile. It's nothing like their old comfort, but a smile nonetheless. Cad waves, leaning on his cane. His hair is a vibrant pink today—it suits him.

Apparently seeing the odd smile on Fjord's face, Jester turns. It’s easy to pinpoint when she sees Beau; Beau doesn’t deserve a bit of it, but Jester’s face near bursts into light and she bounces in place until Beau shoves through the last group to join them. She throws herself at Beau, squeezing tightly around the neck.

‘Ow. Breathing. Necessary,’ Beau gasps, laughs a little when Jester releases her. ‘Hey. Sorry I’m late.’

Fjord shakes his head. ‘Right on time. Good to see you, mate.’

‘Yeah? I mean, yeah, you too.’ She leans into the one-armed hug he gives her over Jester, breathes in for a moment the ever present scent of sweat and chlorine and for a moment it is like they’re back in first year again, and it’s just the three of them against the world, and nothing is difficult or confusing or fragile between them. Pulling back, she can see the same peace in Fjord’s expression. Feels him pat her shoulder, lean his head slightly toward Jester with a, _so?_ expression, eyebrows raised.

Beau shakes her head.

Oddly enough, it makes Fjord frown and she realises with a pang of annoyance and, okay, fear, that they’re actually gonna have to talk about what she told him. Or, what she had told Nott in confidence and that Fjord had found out.

‘You made it!’ Jester squeals, so high pitched it makes Beau’s eardrums tremble. ‘You made it!’

‘And just in time,’ Caleb adds, barely looking up over what she now can see is actually a physical book using his phone as a torch. ‘You must have left soon to have made it, on the train.’

‘Good timing, that’s all,’ Beau mutters.

Glacier blue eyes slide to Jester. Caleb—who ought to know better than rile her up by now—smirks. ‘Ja, that makes sense,’ he agrees, with ease. ‘How fortunate.’

Beau forces herself to look to Jester—sees how wide her smile is, how genuinely pleased she is, how she winds her arms around one of Beau’s like she expects her to escort her through the haunted house—and clears her throat. Shifts closer, a mean feat with how close they already are.

‘I’m sorry,’ she says, quietly, to her best friend, to Jester. ‘I should’ve said yes right away.’

‘You’re busy. I get it.’

‘Not busy enough that I can’t do stuff with you sometimes. Caleb…Caleb’s right,’ Beau admits, eyes dropping from Jester’s. ‘I left right away. I was being an asshole. I will…’ She sucks a breath in, tries not to think about her friends eavesdropping and the way apologising makes her skin feel like it’s crawling and superheated. ‘I will try not to be as much of an asshole. I - I promise.’

Jester moves so she’s standing in front of Beau. Takes both her hands. ‘Beau?’

‘Mm.’

‘That’s very sweet.’

‘Okay, geez,’ she tries to scratch at her undercut, but Jester has a firm hold of her.

‘But you were an asshole, so in recompense,’ Jester continues. It is lightened by the fact that she is grinning ear to ear, and she spins Beau around, hugs her from behind so her hands are in the pocket of Beau’s hoodie. ‘Ooh! Candy!’

‘Jes, you were saying?’

‘Oh, right.’ The other girl is just tall enough on tip toe to set her chin on Beau’s shoulder. ‘In recompense, you’re going first.’

‘Wait—what?’

‘Protect me, Beau,’ Jester commands. ‘but do _not_ hit any of the actors!’

The doors to the mansion loom in void black ahead of them, propped open into a hallway lit by flickering lanterns that pool in sickly green beneath the fixtures. Beau gulps.

‘P-protect you,’ Beau stammers. ‘Okay.’

‘I believe in you,’ Jester laughs, and then she turns her head to press a solid kiss to Beau’s cheek.

The breath catches in Beau’s chest and a fizz runs up and down her spine. The haunted house sits before them menacing and morbid - and nothing she can't face now. Beau steps inside, still with Jester clutching at her waist.

**Author's Note:**

> hi im unicyclehippo on tumblr as well, feel free to swing on by & say hi or send me a prompt x


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